Introduction: The European Commission is supporting the
development of the International Reference Life Cycle Data
System (ILCD). This consists primarily of the ILCD
Handbook and the ILCD Data Network. This paper gives
an insight into the scientific positions of business, governments,
consultants, academics, and others that were
expressed at this public consultation workshop.
Workshop focus: The workshop focused on four of the
topics of the main guidance documents of the ILCD
Handbook: (1) general guidance on life cycle assessment
(LCA); (2) guidance for generic and average life cycle
inventory (LCI) data sets; (3) requirements for environmental
impact assessment methods, models and indicators
for LCA; and (4) review schemes for LCA.
Workshop participation: This consultation workshop was
attended by more than 120 participants during the 4 days of
the workshop. Representatives came from 23 countries,
from both within and outside the European Union.
Workshop structure: Approximately half of the participants
were from business associations or individual companies.
Another 20% were governmental representatives.